Not even the return of Joe Torre...

Not even the return of Joe Torre to the New York Yankee dugout could slow Pedro Martinez.

In his first game back since leaving two months earlier after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer, Torre watched Yankee batters strike out 11 times against Martinez in a 6-3 loss at Boston on Tuesday night.

Still, he was just glad to be in the dugout once again.

“It felt very good, no fatigue,” Torre said. “I was very glad. I thought I’d be jumpy.

“I wish the result was better.”

Torre, who has guided the Yankees to two World Series championships in three years, joined the club in Boston for the start of a three-game series.

And even fans of the Yankees’ most ardent rivals were glad to see the manager. A sellout crowd at Fenway Park gave him a two-minute standing ovation when he walked onto the field to present the lineup card, and the scoreboard flashed: “Welcome Back, Joe Torre.”

“I’ve been ready to do this about a week,” Torre, 58, said before the game. “I think I’m all the way back. I don’t anticipate missing any time.”

Bench coach Don Zimmer, who had managed the Yankees since Torre underwent surgery in St. Louis on March 18, returned to his more familiar role, sitting at his friend’s side in the dugout.

On the field, Martinez struck out at least 10 batters for the seventh consecutive game, as the Red Sox moved into first place in the AL East, a half-game ahead of the Yankees. Boston is 9-2 in its last 11 games, and New York is 1-6 in its last seven.

Starting opposite David Cone, Martinez continually worked out of jams to become baseball’s first eight-game winner and raise his major league-leading strikeout total to 102. He became the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1977 to strike out at least 10 batters in seven consecutive games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“This is probably the toughest game I faced this year,” said Martinez, who had 15 strikeouts in each of his previous two games. “I felt kind of flat and not as strong as I normally am.”

Martinez was calm even though he put runners on base in every inning. He stranded 13 of them, eight in scoring position, during his seven innings.

Cleveland 13, Chicago 0--Dwight Gooden and two relievers combined on a two-hitter, and Manny Ramirez tied a club record with his ninth career grand slam as the Indians routed the White Sox at Chicago.

Chicago’s only hits were Chris Singleton’s single off Gooden (2-0) in the third and Mike Caruso’s single off Paul Assenmacher in the ninth.

Gooden walked one and struck out two before giving way to Ricardo Rincon to start the bottom of the eighth.

Rincon pitched the eighth and Assenmacher worked the ninth for the Indians, who have scored 26 runs on 30 hits over the first two games of the three-game series.

Ramirez’s ninth grand slam matched Al Rosen’s club record as the Indians jumped on Chicago early for the second night in a row.

Cleveland scored 12 runs in the first three innings of Monday night’s 13-9 victory. The Indians had eight over the first three frames Tuesday night, plenty of cushion for the 34-year-old Gooden in his longest outing of the season.

Ramirez homered to right in the second after Chicago starter James Baldwin walked the bases loaded. It was Ramirez’s 11th homer of the season and increased his major league RBI lead to 53. He is five for five this season with the bases loaded.

Toronto 7, Detroit 5--Carlos Delgado hit a two-run home run and Pat Hentgen won his fourth consecutive decision as the Blue Jays won at home over the Tigers.

Delgado’s 11th home run gave Toronto a 7-5 lead in the sixth.

Hentgen, who won the 1996 AL Cy Young Award, went 0-1 with a 7.08 earned-run average in his first four starts, but he is 4-0 with a 2.76 ERA in his last five. The Detroit native has won seven decisions in a row against the Tigers.

Hentgen gave up five runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Rookie Billy Koch pitched two scoreless innings for his second save.

Shawn Green had two hits and two RBIs for Toronto.

He got an RBI in the second when Detroit starter Justin Thompson (4-5) hit him with a pitch with the bases loaded, and his RBI single in the fourth gave the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead.

Kansas City 13, Oakland 3--Joe Randa drove in three runs and everybody in the Royal lineup scored at least once as they trounced the Athletics at Kansas City, Mo., ending Oakland’s six-game winning streak.

The Royals scored six runs and had a season-high seven hits in the seventh inning, capped by Chad Kreuter’s two-run double. Randa had an RBI single and a two-run triple as the Royals went over .500 this late in the season for the first time since they were 20-19 on the same date in 1997.

Rookie Carlos Beltran was three for five with three runs, two RBIs and his sixth home run, one of three solo shots in the eighth off Tim Worrell.

Jeff King and Mike Sweeney also homered as the Royals tied a team record for homers in one inning.

Gil Heredia, who had won his previous two starts and had been unbeaten in three road decisions, gave up seven runs in 6 1/3 innings as the A’s lost for only the third time in 14 games, a surge that had carried them into a tie with Texas atop the AL West.